WORLD-FAMED U.S. PROFESSOR FULL OF PRAISE FOR DOMINION'S FARMS AND FARMING PRACTICES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 15, 3 November 1948, Page 5

WORLD-FAMED U.S. PROFESSOR FULL OF PRAISE FOR DOMINION'S FARMS AND FARMING PRACTICES

Dairy Expert Impressed

"It is almost unbelievable from an American point of view, while the production obtained is absolutely amazing," he said. Dr. Petersen added that the two ..States he came from, Minnesota and Wisconsin, led the remainder of the U.S. in dairy production. But unlike New Zealand they had to harvest about 65 per cent of their feed, store .it and then feed back to the ani- . mals. In this respect New Zealand .had a big advantage. "Why," he,said, "in this country you just bring your cows to r the shed, milk them and send them out to fill up again. You don't have to worry about barns and such." When asked about the cattle he .had seen in New Zealand, Dr. Petersen said he had been taken to

two Jersey herds, which he would * rank as amongst the two finest he \had ever seen anywhere in the •world. "Your cows are from very fine Of course I realise that I.have probably been taken to see the best." Dr. Petersen said he thought the ..Jersey was the most economical • cow in the production of butterfat: They also seemed producers of fine -quality cheese, which was unlike the thought in his country where, Friesians were reckoned better for cheese production. "There is no doubt, according to the Government figures, that the :New Zealand cow on an average produces from 15 to 201bs more than / those in America," he continued.

Questioned about mechanical milking in the two countries, Dr. Petersen said that as far as he knew the releaser system was used only in New Zealand and Australia. In America'each cow had a place in a very large shed and was milked in turn.

Turning to stripping by machine, he declared it could be done by -careful manipulation of the cups. It was just as good as hand stripping and the cow cultivated better habits. It also saved a tremendous amount of time in the shed. Of the countryside generally Dr. Petersen had this to say: "You, have a superb dairy country and this, combined with your wonderful scenery makes it a very beautiful place to travel through. All this, with your unstinted hospitality, has made mine a grand trip."

"I have been impressed by the excellent condition of your farms and by the tremendous utilisation you make of grass here in New Zealand," said Dr. W. E. Petersen, Professor of Dairy Husbandry at the University of Minnesota, during his short visit to Whakatane, in conversation with a Beacon reporter.